Have you been looking for a new deck to play? are you a longtime greasefang enjoyer? do you hate this deck archetype with every fiber of your being? no matter your background, this guide can help!
by the time you see this, this will probably still be a work in progress. That being said, i'll cover as much as I can about what i firmly believe to be the most fun deck that is still competitively viable in Explorer and/or Pioneer.
In this guide, I will cover the following:

• What is Abzan Greasefang?
  
• Why should you play this deck?
  
• Why should you be taking advice from ME?
  
• My personal list, "Flex slot" identification (cards you can change) and the basic "shell" (cards you should NEVER replace)
  
• Basic sideboarding theory (what goes in/out against what type of deck, not a specific one)
  
• Basic piloting tips (when to go "all-in", when to slow-roll, etc.")
  
• Advanced piloting tips (WIP)
  
• Other resources for the deck (mulligan guide, primer, etc. etc.)
  
• semi-budget friendly options (will add later)

So, without further ado, lets get into it!

I'm sure at least some of the people reading this are still clueless as to what Abzan Greasefang actually is, so I'll start with a quick synopsis(If you're already familiar with the deck, feel free to skip this section).
Abzan Greasefang is a White-Black-Green deck built around resolving a Greasefang, Okiba Boss while a Parhelion II is in your graveyard as soon as (safely) possible. If everything goes according to plan, you can play a card like thoughtseize on turn 1 for interaction, put parhelion II into your graveyard on turn 2, then start your third turn, swing for 13 damage in the air, and still have two 4/4 angels left over!
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Importantly, Greasefang decks are NOT just glass-cannon combo decks. Forcing your opponent to respect your combo lets the deck win with its other creatures because they run out of interaction. This aspect of the deck's gameplan is partially why I made this guide, as choosing the correct path to victory isn't always apparent. I'll speak more about this in the piloting tips section.
I know it probably seems like I'm just saying things with nothing to back them up, and that's because I haven't yet. I've played this deck archetype since explorer first released, and I've made it as far as #600 mythic with the deck, as well as a 3-0 at an in-person tournament. Although i still don't know everything about the deck, I'll share as much as I can.

Before we identify the deck's shell and flex slots, as well as what those terms mean, I'm going to dump my decklist for anyone skimming this guide to try and rank up or something.
and here's how it looks in-game:
The "shell" of a deck consists of it's core pieces that should never be taken away. in the case of Greasefang, those cards are grisly salvage, Greasefang(duh), Parhelion II, Esika's Chariot, and Raffine's Informant. Some builds of the deck use scrapwork mutt as a replacement for Raffine's Informant since you can unearth it with your mana confluences, but I personally find the 1 extra power and toughness on informant to be more valuable. Thoughtseize also counts as a part of this general shell, but it's main purpose is to clear any interaction the opponent might have, making it technically replaceable if explorer ever gets a similar card (such as inquisition of kozilek) down the line.
although you can replace every nonland card not already mentioned, some are more flexible than others due to the other decks in the format(ex. witherbloom command kills llanowar elves, reckoner bankbuster, amalia combo's lifegain effects, bitter triumph is a game 1 answer to quintorius combo). therefore, the main "flex slots" in my own deck can be:

• all 4 1-ofs (duress, kutzil, can't stay away, sheoldred), but having 2 extra creatures is highly recommended for grisly salvage
  
• skysovereign (not advised while amalia is in the format)
  
• vessel of nascency
  
• traverse the ulvenwald, but cutting this requires at least 1 more land

if you're going to make changes to this deck, I suggest cutting these cards to make room before anything else.

It's important to keep in mind that this section will focus only on the cards that I have in my own sideboard, and these cards are not the definitive 15 cards you should be running: It's always worth experimenting to see what does and doesn't work for you (especially with in-person events and metagames since you know what everyone plays).

Surge of Salvation:use this against any deck that is trying to beat you by killing your greasefang, as well as any deck that plays Thoughtseize. Good against Izzet Phoenix, UW control(trust me on this one), rakdos midrange, monoblack piles, and red decks that rely on rending volley.
Mosswood Dreadknight: use this when your opponent is trying to beat their "kill 15 of your opponent's creatures" quest, or decks that have an abundance of efficient spot removal. Good against rakdos midrange, izzet phoenix, and (surprisingly) any matchup with a really large emohasis on shutting down your graveyard, like keruga fires with leyline of the void: having another efficient beater can go a long way here.
Knight of Autumn and Loran of the Third Path: I'm running a split here because vigilance and the draw ability are sometimes relevant, although KoA's modality is also useful. kills leyline of the void (+other hatecards), fable, and enigmatic incarmation/fires, and the extra body REALLY matters when your opponent goes down a card to play their hatepiece.
Sheoldred:another creature opponents have to answer before it eventually kills them. mainly here for rakdos + generic red decks, but good against any deck that only finds 1-3 pieces of interaction per game. Think of something like humans if they don'y have get lost or ossification(but don't board her in vs convoke or amalia, the game doesn't go long enough)
Kutzil's flanker: mostly here as a graveyard hate piece. the flash is far more relevant than it seems because you can exile a graveyard after the dedicate all of their resources to it. great in the mirror and against izzet phoenix, but also good against control since they have to counter it on their turn and you can buff it after they supreme verdict you.
Unlicensed hearse: extra graveyard interaction that's also repeatable. only one copy since non-phoenix graveyard matchups usually aren't a problem except for the mirror. occasionally useful against control, but depends on their decklist(and if they have march of otherworldly light).
Fatal Push: early game interaction so you don't die before you do your thing. a must-have against amalia, spirits, and convoke, and necessary to kill ledger shredders vs phoenix.
Temporary Lockdown: use this when they try to go really wide, really fast. good against amalia combo, humans, boros convoke, spirits, and others.

it gets WAY less clear cut here, but in general:

• Vessel goes out against really fast decks: convoke, phoenix, humans, amalia, any other aggro deck or fast combo deck. same goes for sheoldred although to a slightly lesser extent.
  
• Witherbloom Command goes out when you have to select the "drain" mode: if they bring in unlicensed hearse or rest in peace game 2, you should put it back in before game 3.
  
• You should trim 1x traverse the ulvenwald, 1 can't stay away, and sometimes 1 parhelion when you expect hard graveyard hate like rest in peace or leyline. Never cut both traverses as it makes it dificult to hit land drops.
  
• Duress goes out against creature-heavy decks, and you can cut some number of thoughtseize against convoke or burn.
  
• You should always cut Kutzil when the first ability doesn't matter.
  
• You can cut skysovereign if it doesn't kill something consistently, but don't over-rely on boarding it out all of the time. This used to be a terrible habit I had.

Although it may seem like Greasefang is just about getting the turn 3 Parhelion, it's far more complex in practice because you don't control what cards you get. It's not unlikely that 50% or more of your wins will be from attacking with your cat tokens, Skysovereign, and occasionally just using Greasefang herself as an above-rate attacker.

1. Your goal is to interact, THEN combo, not the other way around. make sure the coast is clear before you cast your greasefang as much as you can: If you can thoughtseize and Greasefang in the same turn, the opponent is tapped out, or you have a second Greasefang(and another vehicle to get), your chances are far better.
   
2. Parhelion VS Chariot: I CONSTANTLY see other Greasefang players get this wrong. Because Greasefang's trigger targets the vehicle as part of its ability, your opponent can kill Greasefang before you have a chance to crew and after you select a vehicle. This gets parhelion II out of your graveyard and into your hand, forcing you to find another way to put it back. HOWEVER, if you can target an Esika's chariot instead, it will always be crewable from the two tokens it creates on ETB. This can force your opponent to kill Greasefang on your main phase, which gives you a window to cast another copy or cast Can't Stay Away to bring it back.
   
3. Traverse The Ulvenwald toolboxing: Although traverse usually finds your Greasefang, it can do a lot more. You can also search for nonbasic lands if delirium is enabled, letting you find Boseiju to kill artifacts, enchantments, and lands. you may also need to get Kutzil against blue decks if they tap out, Raffine's Informant to discard a vehicle, or Sheoldred if you have to rely on plan B. Takenuma can also be found this way, but it's incredibly unlikely you'll need it.
   
4. Chariot Loops: If you're getting back a chariot from Greasefang and you already have one in play, you should legend-rule the older copy away, as recasting the chariot when it goes back to hand is an upside (especially if they find a way to clear the board).

• you can thoughtseize yourself to get a vehicle into your graveyard.
  
• Although rare, there are situations where it's better not to put a card in hand off of grisly salvage to enable delirium if you have a traverse the ulvenwald in hand. mostly relevant againt non-interactive decks like monogreen or game 1 boros convoke.
  
• you can use witherbloom command's -3/-1 mode postcombat as a pseudo-combat trick. this also lets you attack as a bluff when you otherwise couldn't.
  
• Kutzil, Malamet exemplar's second ability can also draw you cards if you have a raffine's informant in play, or force the opponent to take an unfavorable trade.
  
• every point of damage you deal to the opponent matters. the fewer outs they have to the 4/4 angels, the better, especially if you can force them to take 7 or more beforehand for a guaranteed kill.
  
• Against merfolk in actual pioneer, offering a trade with raffine's informant can sometimes be detrimental the turn you attack with Parhelion if they can draw into the kiora's follower combo and you need the blocker. EXTREMELY niche but i lost a tournament for this exact reason and i'm still a lil mad about it :) (if you actually made it this far, type "banana" in the comments)
  
• you can't surge of salvation in response to tishana's tidebinder's stifle effect: the ablilty won't fizzle
  
• killing a bonecrusher giant with skysovereign won't result in you taking any damage, because bonecrusher specifically cares about spells and not abilities.
  
• in matchups where the early damage from raffine's informant doesn't matter or against decks that have consistent blockers, you should hold the raffine's informant until you have a vehicle to discard (assuming you have no other discard outlet).
  
• Loran of the Third Path's draw ability can be used to discard vehicles down to hand size, or deal the final 2 damage with Sheoldred in play.

Almost everything I know about this deck was through the work and effort of someone else. Here's a few resources that have gotten me a lot of mileage:
Mulligan guide (slightly outdated but accurate for the most part):











deck primer (made by Juiced0171 on discord): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AP0gjcW6dOvyn9wT_8ZFJb68bGdqiPYm-pxBmta2K6A/edit?usp=sharing
Greasefang discord(all builds, not just abzan!): https://discord.gg/VjTmJwYhbV

Thank you so much for reading this guide! It's still a work in progress, so be sure to let me know of any other information about the deck you're curious about, or anything that was too confusing. I hope this made at least part of you want to join the Okiba Reckoner crew!